Snow Drawings

With Sonja Hinrichsen

A community art-making activity during the winter. Elsewhere has partnered with Sonja a couple of years in a row to create this fun and unique experience. We are hoping to continue this project year after year. Check out some of the amazing art created by over 30 community members!

What are Snow Drawings?:

Snow Drawings are huge design patterns that we will collectively “draw” onto a snow-covered landscape – simply by walking with snowshoes - and thus imprinting patterns into fresh snow surfaces.

Snow Drawings are created during large community outdoor events. They are a symbiosis of immersive nature experience, walking meditation and collaborative art-making.

Collectively we will transform a beautiful snow landscape into a gigantic piece of art.

How it works:

The artist introduces participants to a simple pattern system, which will ensure the creation of one unique and cohesive art piece, yet it will also leave room for individual interpretation. So, this is not a preconceived design, but it rather happens in the creative process, and there is plenty of room for individual exploration, variation and play. It works for everybody – regardless whether you are an experienced snowshoe enthusiast, or whether you have never had snowshoes on your feet before. And you don’t need experience in art or drawing either.

Since the designs we’ll be creating are so vast that they can really only be seen from above, we will have an experienced drone photographer with us, who will be hovering over us from time to time and document our creations. That way you – and the rest of the world – will get to see them later.

What is this all about?

While you as participants get an exclusive first-hand experience, the drawings also draw in a larger audience - into the sublime beauty of nature – through the aerial photos and propagation on social media. Our meditative walking effort will result in lace-like patterns that will lay themselves upon the pristine white landscape, transforming it into a piece of art. Our work will accentuate and draw attention to the magic beauty of our planet, and awaken an intrinsic sense of awe. This is important – especially at a time when modern society is becoming increasingly alienated from the natural world. We tend to forget that we are part of its system, and that we cannot disengage from nature or subdue it. As we have been seeing time and time again, doing so will only backfire at us. This nature engagement project aims to arouse awareness to our interconnectedness with this planet, and our responsibility towards it.

Watch this silent video about Snow Drawing:

About Sonja

Sonja Hinrichsen examines urban and natural environments through exploration and research. As an artist she feels the responsibility to address subject matters our society tends to neglect or deny, particularly adverse impacts to the natural world. Her work manifests in immersive video installations, video performances and interventions in nature. Her participatory project “Snow Drawings” engages communities worldwide.

Sonja graduated from the Academy of Art in Stuttgart, Germany in 1997/98, and received a Masters degree in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2001. She has been invited to group- and solo- exhibitions worldwide, amongst others the DePaul Museum in Chicago, Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, the David Brower Center in Berkeley, Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, Chandra Cerrito Gallery in Oakland, San Francisco Arts Commission, Krowswork in Oakland, Somarts Culture Center in San Francisco, RedLine Gallery in Denver, the Colorado Photo Art Center in Denver, Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, School 33 Art Center in Baltimore, Saarlaendisches Kuenstlerhaus in Germany, Organhaus in China, Pier 2 Art Center in Taiwan, and many more. She has participated in numerous artist residencies, such as the Bemis Center in Omaha, Djerassi in California, the Santa Fe Art Institute, Ucross Foundation in WY, Jentel in WY, Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY, McColl Center in N. Carolina, Valparaiso in Spain, Fiskars in Finland, Saari in Finland, Taipei Artist Village in Taiwan, Akureyri in Iceland, only to name a few. With her project “Snow Drawings” she has organized winter art events with communities in California, Colorado, Wyoming, NY State, Vermont and in the French Alps. She typically works with 30-80 participants, who will spread out across large areas of snow – such as in the mountains, or on frozen lakes.